MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - President Bush pushed back Monday at critics of his once-secret domestic spying effort, saying it should be termed a ``terrorist surveillance program'' and contending it has the backing of legal experts, key lawmakers and the Supreme Court. Several members of Congress from both parties have questioned whether the warrantless snooping is legal. That is because it bypasses a special federal court that, by law, must authorize eavesdropping on Americans and because the president provided limited notification to only a few lawmakers.
``It's amazing that people say to me, 'Well, he's just breaking the law.' If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?'' asked Bush. One of those who had been informed, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was sitting behind Bush during his appearance at Kansas State University.
| There's a point the moonbats can't seem to answer. |
Back in Washington, Gen. Michael Hayden, the former National Security Agency director who is now the government's No. 2 intelligence official, contended the surveillance was narrowly targeted. He acknowledged that the program established a lower legal standard to eavesdrop on terror-related communications than a surveillance law implemented in 1978.
Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, government officials had to prove to a secretive intelligence court that there was ``probable cause'' to believe that a person was tied to terrorism. Bush's program allows senior NSA officials to approve surveillance when there was ``reason to believe'' the call may involve al-Qaida and its affiliates. Hayden maintained that the work was within the law. ``The constitutional standard is reasonable. ... I am convinced that we are lawful because what it is we are doing is reasonable,'' he said at the National Press Club.
| 'Probable cause' is appropriate if you're using the information to build a case for a court. 'reason to believe' is appropriate if you're using the information for military intel purposes. |
In his remarks, Bush said that allowing the NSA to monitor the international phone calls and e-mails of Americans with suspected ties to terrorists can hardly be considered ``domestic spying.'' . ``It's what I would call a terrorist surveillance program,'' Bush said at Kansas State. ``If they're making a phone call in the United States, it seems like to me we want to know why.''
| Unless we have a death wish, of course. |
``I'm not a lawyer, but I can tell you what it means: It means Congress gave me the authority to use necessary force to protect the American people, but it didn't prescribe the tactics,'' Bush said.
Bush and Hayden sought to paint the program as vital to national security. ``Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the al-Qaida operatives in the United States,'' Hayden said.
| And Jaime Gorelick would have thrown herself in front of the bus to prevent us doing anything about it. |